Stella's Place

The US Supreme Court has cleared the way for President Donald Trump to use a rarely-invoked wartime powers law to rapidly deport alleged gang members – for now.

A lower court had temporarily blocked the deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador on 15 March, ruling that the actions under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act needed further scrutiny.

Trump has alleged that the migrants were members of the Tren de Aragua gang “conducting irregular warfare” against the US and could therefore be removed under the Act.

While the administration is claiming the ruling as a win, the justices mandated that deportees must be given a chance to challenge their removal.

“The notice must be afforded within a reasonable time and in such a manner as will allow them to actually seek habeas relief in the proper venue before such removal occurs,” the justices wrote in the unsigned decision on Monday.

“The only question is which court will resolve that challenge,” they wrote.

Monday’s ruling said the challenge – brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of five migrants – was raised improperly in a Washington DC court and not in Texas, where the migrants are confined.